A CHRISTMAS OR NEW YEAR'S HYMN

" S.O.S! " the Cocos said,
" S.O.S! — S.O.S!
S.O.S " the Cocos said,
" S.O.S!
Strange war-ship at the Entrance. "

And we see, from off the land,
Cloud in bigness of a hand —
Bigness of a Strong Man's Hand —
Rise and darken and expand;
Growing denser and more dense
(Showing Man's Omnipotence)
Like a Crime or its Expense,
Or like Vengeance, or a Crime —
'Tis the Sydney racing Time.

I don't want to describe a fight! —
Always rhymes with " Wrong or Right " ,
Or with " Morning, Noon, and Night " ,
Or Eternal " Right and Might " !
Let them say, who saw the sight,
Things that never see the light
Save in clubs and sailors' bars
And beneath the lonely stars —
(I am weary Lord, tonight.)
" Her condition " (all they tell)
" Indescribable. "

Eyes of Thanks and eyes of Hate,
Eyes of Hope, and eyes of Fate;
Eyes Invulnerable! — the Great
Going to their God in state!
Eyes of Death (we say, " too late " .)
Death-grip of your enemy,
In his dying agony,
Tight'ning on your helping hand!
(God must surely understand).

But a grander tragedy
Of those letters seems to me,
In a calm, or gale at sea,
When she fires, or engines fail
(In a calm, and in a gale),
Sending signals of distress
( " S.O.S! S.O.S! " )
Many dreadful leagues from land,
And survivors see a cloud
Of the Bigness of God's Hand!
(Bigness of Thy hand, O God!
Bigness of Thy hand!)
Rise and darken and expand!
Growing denser and more dense,
Proving God's Omnipotence!

" S.O.S! " Our future cries,
" S.O.S! S.O.S!
S.O.S! " Our future cries,
" S.O.S!
Strange Fleet in the Offing! "

I had seen from my own land
Cloud the bigness of a hand
Rise and darken and expand;
Like to Politics or Sport
Like to Pleasure, or Expense,
Leisure or its Recompense,
(Like a Vengeance, or a Crime,
Or like Sydney's racing Time!)
Showing Our Blind Impotence!
But they would not understand.
" Save our Souls, " and save our lives!
Save our daughters and our wives!
Save the little ones who thrive
In the cities' barren hive,
And have mercy on us, Lord!
For the sake of our brave dead,
Who left Home and fought Ahead
To make homes that we despised,
When their dreams were realized —
Or, God! Help them who survive!
" S.O.S "